No doubt jealous of the Maker Faire, NASA has recently gotten in on the action with Yuri's Night, a birthday party of sorts for man's first moments in space, and the man who did it: Yuri Gagarin. It's an airplane-hanger-sized geekfest with real live astronauts, scientists, and geeks from NASA and beyond.

And "Beyond" is where we get in: The ECC is competing in the Musical Interface Competition, and we need your help! The Thimbletron is sure to wow judges, but audience reaction is part of the game -- and that's where YOU come in. So... come in! If you're in the Bay Area, come to Yuri's Night at 2:30pm (yeah, in the afternoon... some "night", huh?) and get energized by the Thimbletronic power.

Every Thursday 3 times a day, The ECC's TradeMark G. hosts The Sound Of Plaid, a weekly internet radio show on Shouting Fire. For two hours TradeMark features ECC music, audio curiosities from The ECC's expansive audio archive, and specials like The 20 Biggest Record Company Screw-Ups of All Time. This week featured screw-ups from #20 down to #11; tune in next week to hear #10 down to #1! Some excerpts such as Torture Music are posted to The ECC website, but the only way to hear the whole show is through Shouting Fire.